Joining Chicago Bears fulfills childhood dream for Robert Tonyan Jr.

LAKE FOREST – The motivation for moving home was clear for former Green Bay Packers tight end Robert Tonyan. The McHenry native, who signed a one-year contract with the Bears in March, has always been close with his family.

But his desire to play closer to home only became more intense over the past two years as he dealt with a torn ACL in his knee. The injury, suffered midway through the 2021 season, sidelined him for 10 months. He returned to play in all 17 of the Packers’ games last season, but said it took almost the entire season before he felt like himself again.

Going through the rehab and recovery on his own told him exactly what he needed moving forward.

“I just needed my circle again,” Tonyan told Shaw Local. “After an injury season like that and getting down in the dumps, you’re not getting back a part of what you thought you were before. A lot of change going on. It was just like: What makes me happy? It was being around those people, being around those who actually have love for you and who actually care about you as a person.”

“I just needed my circle again.”

—  Robert Tonyan, Bears tight end

Three months after signing with the Bears as a free agent, the 29-year-old Tonyan has found himself a home in the north suburbs and settled into a routine with the Bears at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. That routine includes seeing his parents, Bob and Tammy Tonyan, much more frequently.

The match between the Bears and Tonyan made sense for both parties. From the Bears’ perspective, they didn’t have an effective No. 2 tight end last season behind starter Cole Kmet. Reserve tight ends Ryan Griffin and Trevon Wesco combined for just six catches for 52 yards on the season. Kmet played nearly every offensive snap.

The Bears still want Kmet to be a featured pass-catcher in this offense, but he needs help. The best NFL offenses have multiple reliable tight ends. Pairing Kmet and Tonyan should give offensive coordinator Luke Getsy the flexibility to use more two-tight end sets and feel confident that either one can make a play.

“They’re both complete tight ends that can do a lot of different things,” Bears tight ends coach Jim Dray said. “It’s kind of hard to just hone in on one thing. The more we can mix that up with the guys we’ve added up front [on the offensive line] and the guys we’ve added on the outside [at receiver], it should hopefully lead to more production.”

Kmet and Tonyan met while attending Tight End University, a camp that a number of NFL tight ends participate in every summer.

Kmet joked earlier this spring that he was still unsure what to call his new teammate.

“I’ve called him three different names and he hasn’t stopped it: Bobby, Rob and Robert,” Kmet said. “We’ll see how it plays out. He responds to all three, which is cool.”

Getsy noted this spring that Tonyan can be a valuable resource for Kmet. Getsy has built this Bears offense largely off his experiences coaching in Green Bay. Tonyan ran this offense at a high level alongside former Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.

Tonyan knows what make this offense tick.

“Bobby’s going to be a really good example for [Kmet] with all the experiences that he has been through within the system,” Getsy said. “Even to kind of give him some cool nuances of how we can do what we do better.”

The 24-year-old Kmet grew up in Lake Barrington, not far from McHenry. Both tight ends grew up rooting for the Bears. Tonyan’s parents had him decked out in Bears jerseys from a young age. Tonyan said his earliest Bears memory was when they took him to a game against the Lions at Soldier Field when he was 4 or 5 years old.

In March, Tonyan’s dad came with him when he signed his contract with the Bears. Robert said that Bob was “on cloud nine” walking through Halas Hall.

“You can’t forget, at the end of the day, kids dream about doing what they do and he’s finally able to live it,” Dray said.

Tonyan played quarterback at McHenry and was a talented basketball player. He earned the 2012 Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors as a senior. He began his college career at Indiana State as a quarterback before converting to wide receiver.

His goal from the beginning was to play in the NFL. He never really cared which position. As his college career ended, he believed his best shot at a pro career would be if he bulked up and learned to play tight end. He first signed with the Detroit Lions in 2017 but didn’t make the active roster or the practice squad. Later that year, he signed with the Packers practice squad and eventually made their active roster in 2018.

[ Football: Packers TE Robert Tonyan, family ‘always thought that he would get a chance’ in NFL ]

That season, he learned the ropes from veterans like Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis. Looking back on it now, Tonyan said hanging out with teammates in their 30s as a 23-year-old helped him mature quickly. He also believes he’s a much better tight end now, with six years of experience under his belt, than he was then.

“The game is slow,” Tonyan said. “You can tell certain things. Like why I’m here. I know this offense. I can help people understand why things are ran this way. What Luke [Getsy] is looking for and all that. I think it’s just the maturity in the game and the leadership that I’m continuing to grow as a leader.”

Getsy watched Tonyan emerge from an undrafted rookie tight end to someone who scored 11 touchdowns in 2020. But Tonyan can say the same thing. He watched Getsy go from a wide receivers coach to a QB coach with the Packers to now an offensive coordinator.

Now, they both hope they can help build something special.

“I just want to be around [family] again and put myself in a position to just play football freely and happy again and see where it goes,” Tonyan said.